CRA consultants Georgia Pawson, Viktorija Zaksaite and Bernat Cirera attended the Nuclear Institute (NI) Young Generation Network’s (YGN) Annual Day Seminar and Dinner. The event took place on Thursday 15 November in York.
The topic for this year’s YGN seminar was “The Nuclear Sector Deal: Planning for Success”.
The Nuclear Sector Deal was published in June 2018 and is part of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy. The deal builds on the long-standing partnership between the government and nuclear industry that has helped the UK become a world leader in: new build, generation, fuel production, waste management, decommissioning, regulation and research and development (R&D).
The Deal sets out the vision for growth of the nuclear industry in the UK with closer collaboration between the industry and government. The current young generation of nuclear professionals will be integral for the delivery of the Deal and will be key beneficiaries of this significant government commitment to the future of nuclear in the UK.
Stephen Speed, Director of Nuclear at Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), delivered an excellent keynote speech that put the Nuclear Sector Deal into perspective for the seminar attendees.
The seminar programme focused on two of the three topics from the Nuclear Sector Deal; ‘Innovation’ and ‘Diversity’. Additionally, the programme featured a panel session that provided an update on the implementation of the Deal.
The innovation talks were presented by the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Centre (NAMRC) who discussed the cutting edge work they are doing to progress technology and development. Professor Melanie Brownridge, from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), talked about delivering progress in decommissioning through innovation.
Following on from the innovation presentations, the winner of the 2018 YGN National Speaking Competition , Momchil Vasilev, talked about research into Robotic and Sensing Enabled Welding.
The Diversity talks came after lunch. Jack Gritt, Women in Nuclear (WiN) President, presented on the four F-words (Frustration, Fairness, Family and Fear) as well as inclusion, consciousness and kindness to improving diversity in the workplace. Miranda Kirschel MBE then spoke about how we can go about achieving the diversity targets set out in the Deal, highlighting how attendees can help in their own organisations and communities.
The final programme item was a panel session on implementation of the Deal. The panellists were three nuclear experts: Jay Bhart, Professor Andrew Sherry and Professor John Fyfe.
The presentations and open floor discussions, during the seminar, covered a wide range of topics informing the delegates of how to bring/introduce/implement/develop innovative ideas into the workplace as well as how to aid the Sector Deal’s diversity target.
The evening dinner was held in York’s National Railway Museum which was a great way to finish the successful event and continue networking amongst peers.
Commenting on the event, Bernat Cirera said: “This is the second time CRA has supported my attendance at such an interesting event. It was a great opportunity to make new connections and expand my nuclear sector knowledge.”
Viktorija Zaksaite was excited to attend the YGN seminar for the first time, and was able to increase her networking circle within the nuclear sector. After the event Viktorija said: “This event brought young, diverse, positive and enthusiastic people together, who as the event highlights will be the future of nuclear in the UK and worldwide. “
CRA is an avid support of the YGN and CRA consultant, Georgia Pawson, was a member of the 2018 YGN Annual Day Seminar and Dinner Organising committee.
CRA would like to thank the YGN for hosting another great Annual Day Seminar and Dinner.